Two PhD–trajectories and the IMPULS-project awarded to ELAN Two PhD-trajectories on teaching medical physics, and nano chemistry

The national DUDOC program offers science teachers in the upper grades of Dutch pre-university schools to do their PhD-research on the teaching of a science subject 3 days a week for 4.5 years, next to their teaching duties.

In the first PhD-study a digital program will be developed with which student progress in medical physics can measured by means of adaptive assignments. Based on the assignments students receive feedback on their progress, and teachers are informed on the progress of their students. Teachers will be trained in using the feedback they receive on student progress for adapting instruction to students’ needs. The intervention will be evaluated on its effectiveness: To what extent do the use of feedback and adaptive assignments promote the development of strategical knowledge in medical physics?

In the second PhD-study the focus is on the teaching of nano chemistry.  Three modules will be developed for the upper part of Dutch VWO-schools, based on current research into nano chemistry:

(1) tissue engineering
(2) targeted drug delivery
(3) reporter substrates.

Elements from bio chemistry, redox and the organic chemistry will be identified and made accessible by means of the teaching material to be developed. Furthermore research will be done into how teachers use these teaching materials as well as into the effects of the use of the materials on teacher behavior and student performance.

IMPULS
In the two-year of beta-didactics project IMPULS, ELAN will design teqching material for secondary schools in cooperation with various science research groups at the UT, secondary teachers and students. The goal is to support the development of students’ knowledge of state of the art science concepts. ELAN in this project cooperates with the research groups of Vanessa Evers (robotics), Albert van den Berg (lab on a chip), Richard Boucherie (game theory), Jurriaan Huskens (nano chemistry) and Alexander Brinkman (quantum physics).